


Ballad of a Hero

by masamune11



Series: Once upon a time, in Elibe... [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Past, Crossover, FE7/6 setting with hinted FE8 job system, Gen, Mention of Alone, Mention of King!Alone, Mention of Reglay!Sage!Dégel, Pure AU, Pure SSLC character insert, WyvernLord!Kardia, WyvernLord!Rhadamantys, and these drabble-series are getting longer and longer, mention of Sage!Aiacos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 22:58:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3428660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masamune11/pseuds/masamune11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many sang his tales, of a blue-haired knight with Antares—the blood-red lance given by his commander—at his tow, as he swept the land to prey on evil bandits and transgressors alike. He was the general’s Green Knight, if one compared Bernese wyvern knights to Lycian cavalry, for he was the only one who could keep up with Rhadamantys’ standard of honor and pride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ballad of a Hero

There were many skilled warriors and soldiers among the ranks of Bern who worked much of their lives off in order to protect their homeland. Even rarer among them are those who strove to be better than the others—to reach that level where one could gain the attention of Bern’s high lords.

Kardia was not among those soldiers.  _He was better_.

Before his service as a knight, he was just another peasant working for another marquess. His mother died in childbirth, leaving his father to raise him alone. He was taught first as a farmer, like his father’s father, knowing only to survive with meager resource despite their skill to bring food to the table. Back then, he could not imagine a life without sickle and plough, until he met that man.

He had seen ten summers passed in his life when he met Rhadamantys for the first time; he, being one of the wyvern knights in service to the royal family of Bern. Kardia was sowing through the field when the roar of his wyvern tore through the peaceful field. When he turned his attention at the source, the man and his charge were already spiralling down to ground, and crashed unto his granary not long after. Of course, the first thing he did after cursing his ill luck was to check on the unfortunate wyvern rider. Simply said, both the rider and wyvern survived, though the beast was hurt quite badly due to falling from such heights.

At the request of his father, he let the man stayed over.

(His father lived in times when the tales of dragons were still fresh. He was one of those lot who heard of the ending winter and legendary heroes from the witnesses of such legends, and still dreamed to be treated as such. After all, they were descendants of Hartmut; surely his fierceness also ran in their veins.

Yet his own kin cast him away, and he was left with nothing saves for a plow and an empty land, still with no respect that he deserved.)

Rhadamantys was grateful despite their too frugal hospitality and proposed to repay them in any way he could. To Kardia’s insistence (never his father’s, for he was never an assertive man), he asked the knight to let him be acquainted with his wyvern. The knight agreed to his request quite enthusiastically, with his only warning to the boy for not disturbing the wyvern too much lest facing her wrath. She was never friendly with strangers, and Rhadamanthys’ scar across his right hand was the ultimate proof of it.

Kardia charmed Ell the wyvern quite fluidly, despite the knight’s concern. It was also the reason how Kardia ended up with recommendation letter for knighthood despite living in the farthest region of the kingdom, weeks after said knight’s departure for the capital. His father, with his long-lost snuffed-out pride burning in his eyes, urged him to grab such opportunity, because if he himself cannot obtain such glory, then at least his child will seize what should have been rightfully his.

So Kardia embarked from the village he grew in to face his destiny.

(There was a time when he met Aiacos, one of the High Sages of Bern. Kardia was just a squire, standing too relaxed for a new recruit, when the man approached him with a frowning face. But it soon shifted into something akin to bemused grin, as he threw an off-hand comment, “I look forward to watch you grow and become stronger. Perhaps then, your destiny will save us all from that future.”

He did not understand what the sage implied then, but he knew much not to ignore a wizard’s warning when it was given.)

It took him another ten summers to advance in the ranks of Bern’s knights, before he met that same man again. This time, Rhadamantys personally took him under his wing, such was his right as the Wyvern General answering to the King himself. Kardia’s skills flourished; his fame reached even to the farthest land of Bern, despite his  role as second-in-command. Many sang his tales, of a blue-haired knight with Antares—the blood-red lance given by his commander—at his tow, as he swept the land to prey on evil bandits and transgressors alike. He was the general’s Green Knight, if one compared Bernese wyvern knights to Lycian cavalry, for he was the only one who could keep up with Rhadamantys’ standard of honor and pride.

Such honor called him to face the curs of Etruria.

The Etrurians were cowards, he thought, for they used clever words and trickery to obtain what they want. They enforced their rules without considering the will of the people; he had seen too many proofs of such acts around the borders of his country. So when the news of the relentless Etrurian Sage General gracing one of the villages in the northernmost part of Bern, terrorising villagers and travellers alike, Kardia was one of the Knights who answered their pleas.

He was the first to face Dégel of Reglay.

He was the first of Bern’s knights to fall.

He became the reason for King Alone’s declaration of war towards Etruria, while his blood-red lance—brought back from the frozen land where he lied—hung in trophy room as a reminder for the Bernese of his courageous life.

(But no one sang the tale of growing friendship between two mercenaries—one resembling much to the late knight—when both decided to live under different names. Kardia the knight died that day, and it was necessary for him to remain so if he ever wanted to unravel the evil scheming behind this brewing war. After all, Kardia loved his country, and if remaining dead to the world would save Bern's people, _he would_.

Kardia died, but Scorpio the mercenary lived—and that was enough.)

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from [my tumblr](http://rantoffireflies.tumblr.com/post/111958449923/ballad-of-a-hero-fe7-x-sslc-some-hundred-years), with minor revision.


End file.
